Nice meditational/relaxing style of Classical Indian music.
Shivkumar Sharma – When Time Stood Still (Live in Bombay)
Shivkumar Sharma – Santoor
Zakir Hussain – Tabla
The santoor is an Indian stringed musical instrument. It is related to the Indian shata-tantri veena of earlier times and has strong resemblances with the Persian santur. It is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut, with seventy strings. The special-shaped mallets (mezrab) are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers. A typical santoor has two sets of bridges, providing a range of three octaves.
The Kashmiri santoor is more rectangular and can have more strings than the original Persian counterpart, which generally has 72 strings. The santoor as used in Kashmiri classical music is played with a pair of curved mallets made of walnut wood and the resultant melodies are similar to the music of the harp, harpsichord, or piano. The sound chamber is also made of walnut wood and the bridges are made of local wood and painted dark like ebony. The strings are made of steel.
Notable santoor players of the twentieth century include Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Bhajan Sopori.
Santoor was first introduced in Iran and was later spread to several regions of Asia, including India.
In India, “Santoor” was used as an accompaniment instrument to the folk music of Kashmir. It was a 100-stringed instrument played in a style of music known as the Sufiana Mausiqi. The Sufi mystics used it as an accompaniment to their hymns.
The original Sanskrit name of Santoor was “Shatha Tantri Veena” meaning a lute or a stringed instrument that has over hundred strings. Santoor is a Persian name to this same instrument “Shatha Tantri Veena” that has references back to Vedic literature.
Shivkumar Sharma is the master instrumentalist of the santoor, after some years as a vocalist. He is credited with single-handedly making the santoor a popular classical instrument. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Sharma said that it was his father who decided that he should play the santoor and that he never thought he would be choosing it when he started learning music. Sharma recorded his first solo album in 1960. Sharma composed the music of Shantaram’s Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1965).
In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967) which turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian classical music. He has composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia starting with Silsila (1980). They came to be known as the ‘Shiv-Hari’ music duo. Some of the movies they composed music for which were big musical hits are Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993).
1. ShivKumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain – 01 – Kausni Kanhara (21:52)
2. ShivKumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain – 02 – Malkauns & Darbari Kanhara (8:18)
3. ShivKumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain – 03 – Mishra Kafi Ohun & Raga Mala & Alap (16:45)
4. ShivKumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain – 04 – Jod (21:04)
5. ShivKumar Sharma & Zakir Hussain – 05 – Roopak – Jod, Ihala Gat: Roopak (23:39)
According to some accounts, this recording showcases one of the best
performaces by Shivkumar Sharma.
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